THEY’RE making their lists and checking them – not just twice, but again and again, re-reviewing gift ideas and narrowing down the number of gift recipients each time.
Thanks to the global economic crisis, mortal Santas – whether for financial reasons or otherwise – are not going to town this year with the buying of Christmas gifts.
In a recent survey by the United States’ National Retail Federation, about two-thirds of those polled said that the economic situation would affect their holiday spending. Gift lists would be cut down to include only those who really matter, and many givers have decided to make their own presents this year.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, the bumpy year has pushed shoppers to reassess their priorities.
Gone are the days of lavish spending on status-symbol gifts; in their place are more creative, personal presents that speak more of the relationship between giver and recipient. Take Daylin Koh, for instance.
The marketing communications director admits to usually going to “one or at most two places to buy no-brainer type of Christmas presents such as toiletries, perfumes and books”.
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This year, however, “I’m really cracking my brain as I want to buy gifts that will be meaningful to the recipient”, she says.
What she’s come up with, then, are unique items such as Hansgrohe raindance shower heads for stressed friends; she’s also thinking of valet vouchers for those who tend to drink and drive.
Art dealer Brent Kennedy is shopping in a similar manner.
Over previous Christmases, he’s made presents of items such as leather passport holders and Tiffany & Co keychains to family and friends; this year, he says, he’ll be giving out cookies bought from MaD’s Bakery, an online boutique bakery that will ice the buttery treats with the recipients’ names.
“I decided to give personalised gifts this year because of just that word – ‘personalised’,” explains Mr Kennedy. “Such gifts say that the giver really cares about what the gift is, not just that they’re giving a gift.”
He continues: “Anyone can rush out during their lunch hour and buy the first thing they see, but a personalised gift says that the giver has actually put some thought into it and wants it to be special for the person receiving it. On top of that, the cookies are so beautifully done – much better than any I’ve seen in the shops – so it just made sense.”
Indeed, food gifts seem to be more popular this year be it here or in the northern hemisphere – according to the American survey, for example, food is the only gift category for which spending has increased, with the average shopper spending US$90.26 on food gifts this year, up from US$80.28 in 2008.
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And in Singapore, more than a few gift-givers are choosing to make presents of home-baked goods this Christmas.
Investment analyst Liew Weylin, for one, will be baking macarons for those on her receiving list.
She says: “I’m making salted caramel macarons and coffee macarons from a recipe by my friend Karen Chong, which will be packaged in little plastic containers from Phoon Huat and decorated with a personalised sticker.
“I might also make little pots of tiramisu – a lot of my friends love coffee and the main ingredient in these is really good, strong coffee, rather than fake essence. I found some beautiful espresso powder and coffee beans at Black, which is an awesome coffee cafe at Hitachi Tower, and they were nice enough to grind it fresh and very finely for me, for baking.”
The reason behind her decision to bake her own gifts, she adds, is because she found that “having to buy purposefully, at a specific time, was becoming a bit meaningless”.
Speaking of time, some gift-givers have found themselves so occupied with work – in part due to the fact that their companies are short-staffed from layoffs this year – that they haven’t had the opportunity to head to the stores.
Marketing executive W Heng is one shopper who’s found herself in that predicament, but she’s managed to get around it – and still procure meaningful gifts – by buying everything from one favourite shop.
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“This year, I’ve bought organic products for my friends from Aesop because I want them to stop using synthetic, chemical stuff on themselves,” she says.
Another time-starved shopper, Karen Mong, has turned to cyberspace for a more efficient experience and to get unique gifts.
“The Internet is much faster when you’re searching for stuff and there are a lot of websites that offer products that aren’t in the stores,” observes the senior advertising manager.
This Yuletide season, she shares, she’s ordered a leather-bound music journal that contains top-quality manuscript sheets for a composer friend from online store Renaissance Art, while for her pilot husband there’s a pub sign customised with his name, plus coasters – all of which feature an aviation theme – for his home bar from Tailwinds.
Ms Mong isn’t the only gift-giver who’s now looking beyond surface value when it comes to presents. Ron Lim, owner of luxury candle store Mendocino Style at Great World City, observes that customers this year are buying “more of the thematic candles so there’s a story behind each piece”.
Themes, personalisation, home production ... whichever you find in your stocking this year, it’ll likely bode a very merry and meaningful Christmas.
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This article was first published in The Business Times.
